A Healthier Crock Pot Cincinnati Chicken Chili Recipe

A little while ago, I went for a walk with a friend of mine who brought up one of her husband’s favorite meals – Skyline Cincinnati Chili. Although I’ve never eaten authentic Skyline Cincinnati Chili, I made a version of it a few years ago and the kids seemed to like it, so this time around, I reached out to friends and followers on Twitter and Facebook and asked for their favorite recipes.

There are some spices that everyone seems to agree goes into Cincinnati Chili, like chili powder, cinnamon and allspice. Then there’s the unsweetened chocolate or cocoa that gives the chili a nice deep richness, and vinegar to give it some tang. Some recipes use tomato sauce, others use tomato paste. Some people add ground cloves. One friend suggested adding some vanilla. Cayenne or black pepper also add some heat. One recipe added some steak sauce, another used barbeque sauce, and others use Worcestershire sauce. As for the cooking method, some recipes called for browning the meat first, others said that was a big no-no – that the meat should be cooked in water to give it a softer texture. Most people agreed that the key to an authentic Cincinnati Chili was the texture of the meat – it should not be chunky, but should be fine.

So, off I went to take all the bits and pieces that I picked up from different recipes to come up with my East Coast rendition. Although traditionally, Cincinnati Chili is served over pasta with optional toppings of warm Red Kidney Beans, Onions and Shredded Cheese, I decided to throw the beans in with the chili because I wanted to make sure my kids didn’t opt-out of this topping. I broke with tradition the first time I made this, using ground chicken instead of beef. To get the fine texture that everyone was talking about, I cooked the ground chicken in water first, then pulsed it in my food processor a few times before adding all the spices and sauces. Since this chili needs to be cooked for a long time, I let it simmer away in my crock pot all day for the flavors to develop. The second time I made this, I used organic lean beef (90%) and did not need to pulse it in the food processor. Although the original Skyline Chili is high in fat and calories (I’m guessing the beef used is higher in fat and the fat may not be strained off; also, pictures I’ve seen of Skyline Chili are piled high with cheese), this version is a lighter version. Not only did I use leaner cuts of meat, but I strained the juices off after cooking the meat, leaving behind most of the fat. In addition, by using extra extra sharp cheddar cheese (from Trader Joe’s), which packs a lot of flavor into a smaller portion, you can use less and still get that intense cheddar flavor. I shredded my own cheese using a fine shredded disk on my food processor (so much better than the pre-shredded cheese you buy from the store). Of course, portion size plays a big part as well, so I was also mindful of the amount of pasta I served this with (the kids got bigger portions). According to Calorie Count, one serving of 5-way Skyline Cincinnati Chili has 790 calories, and is not only high in fat, but extremely high in sodium too. By watching portion sizes, using leaner cuts of meat and serving the chili with a modest amount of cheese, you can substantially improve the nutritional profile of this popular chili dish. One serving of this skinnied down Cincinnati Chili made with ground chicken and served with 1 cup cooked gluten-free pasta and 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese has 540 calories, 14.6 grams fat, 4.9 grams saturated fat, and 767 mg sodium. If you like more cheese, just know that doubling the amount of cheese per serving to 1/4 cup will add 50 more calories, 3 grams fat, and 90 mg sodium. Made with 90% lean ground beef, one serving would have 600 calories, 100 calories less than if you use 75% ground beef. Skyline serves their chili five different ways so you can choose your favorite toppings (or not): 1-way: Chili only 2-way: Chili served over spaghetti 3-way: Chili served over spaghetti with grated Cheddar cheese 4-way: chili served over spaghetti with grated Cheddar cheese and onions 5-way: chili served over spaghetti with grated Cheddar cheese, onions, and beans

A Healthier Crockpot Cincinnati Chili

Ground chicken and turkey tend to lump up when cooked, so I pulsed the cooked meat in a food processor to get the right consistency. If you choose to use lean (90%) ground beef, you shouldn't need to process the meat as it won't lump up like chicken or turkey.

Prep Time20minutes

Cook Time6hours30minutes

Servings4

Ingredients

2cupswater

1poundground chickenturkey or lean (90%) beef

1medium onionfinely chopped

2garlic clovesminced

2tablespoonschili powder

1/4teaspoonground allspice

1/2teaspooncayenne pepper

1/2teaspoonground cumin

1/2teaspoonground cinnamon

1 1/2tablespoonunsweetened cocoa

1bay leaf

3tablespoonstomato paste

1cuptomato sauce

1tablespooncider vinegar

1teaspoonWorcestershire sauce

1/2teaspoonsalt

1cupwater

1 1/2cupscooked kidney beansrinsed and drained

To Serve

Cooked spaghettigluten-free or whole grain

chopped onions

2-4ouncesshredded low-fat sharp Cheddar cheese

Instructions

Place water and ground chicken in a large pot. Stir to break up pieces. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook on low for 30 minutes. Strain chicken and place cooked meat in bowl of food processor. Pulse until texture is fine (you do not need to pulse the meat if you use beef unless it is lumpy). Place mixture in crockpot with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 6 hours. If desired, add beans to chili and cook another 30 minutes to warm through. You can also leave out the beans and use them as a topping when served, which is the traditional way to serve it.

To serve, spoon chili on top of cooked pasta. Top with onions and cheese.

I don’t think she means that she has a Greek chili receipe… The Skyline recipe itself IS Greek. 🙂 It’s from the Lambrinides family, who are Greek and took a lot of the flavors from their traditional cooking and put it into chili!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_Chili And, just an FYI, a 4way is spaghetti, chili, cheese and a choice of onions or beans. 🙂 And just so you know, the canned version is not nearly as good as the real deal, which I’m sure you can imagine. And I’m sure the less fattening version is still tasty, but there’s just something about even the cheese that skyline uses that makes it unique! It’s so light and fluffy, and just…delicious! I moved out of the cincinnati area about a year ago, and have had the canned version a few times, and it’s just NOT the same without skyline’s cheese. 🙂

Hi Cerena, thanks for teaching us more about Skyline chili. I just got a lesson this past weekend in how to assemble the proper Skyline Chili. I made it for Super Bowl and had a few friends over who are from Cincinnati. Another friend actually gave me a can of Skyline chili to try so I could compare the two. The canned version is very salty and a lot more watery than I expected, so I tweaked my recipe for this past weekend and added more water and upped the spices.

You’re welcome – people seem to go crazy over Cincinnati Chili but everyone always talks about how unhealthy it is, so it was fun dissecting the dish to see where the calories and fat come from. With just a few substitutions (lean meat and low-fat cheese (and just using less), and by draining the meat, I think you save a lot of fat.

I’ve never had authentic Cincinnati Chili, but my mom used to make a version which came from an old Campbell’s soup cookbook and it was a family fave 🙂 Last year I did a slow cooker feature for Clean Eating and came up with my own healthier version too! I should make a batch soon, you’re reminding me of how good it is!

Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you tried this your boys (young and older) loved it. My boys love it as well and I’ve made it for guests. It’s a fun meal to serve since everyone can put their own toppings on it. I appreciate you coming back here to let me know that you tried this recipe and enjoyed it.

Lifetime Cincinnatian here and I can honestly tell you that Skyline chili is one of my least favorite local foods. However, in saying that, your recipe sounds delicious and might just convince me to give making it at home a chance….maybe substituting the chicken/turkey with beans.

Want a secret to that delicious cheese: grate it very thin and then toss it in some corn starch. The corn starch will keep it from clumping!

Thanks for sharing! p.s. Cincinnati is misspelled a couple times in the first three paragraphs